My telephone conversation with Mr. Stanley Chong of KKTP

 

I waited for a month before emailing Mr. Stanley Chong again. I wrote a simple reminder as follows:

                    luqman michel <luqmanm2002@yahoo.co.uk>

To:STANLEY CHONG HON CHUNG

Cc:HJH MUDZNAH HAJI YUSOP @ MUDJNAH

Mon, 6 Feb at 07:34

 

Hello again, Mr. Chong.

I hope you had a good CNY celebration.

It is now one month since you said that you would organise a meeting.

When will the meeting be held, sir?

Thank you and kind regards.

Luqman Michel

Meanwhile, I decided to contact Datuk Yeo Boon Hai, the former mayor. I had met him in his office on some other matters sometime in 2018. He signed the Amended Development Plan on 3.10.2018 as mayor of Kota Kinabalu while Mr. Stanley Chong signed the Amended Development Plan as director of DBKK. 

I messaged Datuk Yeo and then telephoned him and explained the situation to him. He said he will talk with Mr.Stanley Chong and get back to me. To cut the story short Datuk Yeo messaged and said that he had spoken with Mr.Stanley and that Stanley asked me to telephone him. I telephoned Mr. Stanley Chong and emailed Mr.Chong the main points we had talked on the telephone. Here are the details.

luqman michel <luqmanm2002@yahoo.co.uk>

To:STANLEY CHONG HON CHUNG

Cc:HJH MUDZNAH HAJI YUSOP @ MUDJNAH

Thu, 16 Feb at 16:56

Dear Mr. Chong,

Re: Fraudulent documents submitted to DBKK to obtain Occupancy Certificates for the Phase 1 Vistana Heights Project.

I refer to my email to you on 3.1.2023, your response on 6.1.2023 and our telephone conversation this morning.

For record purposes, I state below what we discussed this morning.

The driveway to my son’s house at S9 (Lot 15) Vistana Heights is too steep for standard cars to access the porch.

You said that if the occupancy certificates were obtained by fraudulent means then the problem is very serious.

I responded by saying that I am already 70 years old and will not make such an accusation if I am not convinced. I worked for a licenced surveyor for 2 years and in the audit field for most of my life. I believe I know when fraud has been committed.

You also said that it is already 3 years since OC was obtained and that I had not complained earlier.

Mr. Chong, I complained to Ms. Jessie Lee about some of the construction defects as early as 11.1.2020 which is less than 1 month after receiving the keys.

Ms. Jessie Lee said that I should direct my complaints to Mrs. Monica Lee. A short while later I met Mrs. Lee on Site and complained to her. I asked her if I need to complain in writing to which she replied that I don’t have to.

A few months later I complained to Mrs. Monica Lee about the water pipes being buried too close to the surface of the soil.(Note 1)

My son and a few house owners took legal action against the developer for nonpayment of LAD.(Note 2)

Mrs. Monica Lee then informed me that all repair works will be attended to only after the legal case has been resolved. (Note 3)

I wrote an email to the M&E engineer, Mr. Sean, on 5.1.2021, and again on 12.1.2021 about the water pipe issues.

Even the Professional Practice Committee of PAM said that they cannot comment on my complaint as there was a legal case pending. They said this was based on what PAM Sabah had told them.

The final order to pay the LAD to my son, Faisal, was given on 15.3.2022. Payment of LAD was finalised in October 2022.

When I learnt about the court order to pay LAD I started talking and writing to the developer in May 2022.

Several requests for a meeting with the developer were not responded to. No repair work has been carried out to date.

It is my opinion that the court case on LAD has nothing to do with construction defects, but it was used as an excuse not to carry out the repair work. I understand this was advised by the developer’s lawyer.

Mr. Chong, all we want is an amicable solution. 

Think how this can be resolved instead of defending by giving excuses such as defects not reported within the defect liability period.

Another problem I had taken to the Housing Tribunal which has not been resolved is that of water leakage due to broken pipe/pipes existing prior to handing over the keys.

The Housing Tribunal has brushed off this complaint saying it is after the defect liability period. They do not appear to know about latent defects and the fact that the bills were given to house owners only in July 2022.

Mr. Chong, I learnt a long time ago that there is a lot of truth in the Chinese proverb – xiao dong bu bu, da dong chi ku.  (A stitch in time saves nine).

I do hope that your table is where the buck stops.

Kind regards,

Luqman Michel

Notes:

1. Lalang (tall weed) had grown in the yard and my son did not want to use weed killers as it will pollute the air. So, my wife and I decided to use the hoe (cankul) to dig up the roots of the lalang. In the process we cut up the ABS water pipe that was shallowly buried. I complained to Mrs. Monica Lee who walked off saying that I should not have disturbed the soil surface. Subsequently, I cut the pipe in two other places and had them repaired. 

In a letter to Malaysian Institute of Architects (PAM Sabah Chapter) which was forwarded to PAM KL, the architect gave a similar excuse: 'As there were legal cases related to Phase 1A of the development, we require our client's consent or instruction before providing a reply to any purchasers as required under our code of conduct.' 

2. LAD is liquidated ascertained damage paid to buyers by developers when the occupancy certificate is obtained after the due handing over date.

3. Writ of summons was filed by Faisal on 9.6.2020. A few weeks later Monica said that no repair will be entertained until the court case is settled.